The Nephew

"The Nephew" is about a young American man who, following the death of his mother, returns to her homeland, Ireland, to meet his kindred and instead opens a closet full of skeletons. A wonderful mix of humor, romance, drama, music, and scenic beauty, layered over a compelling story of family issues which need to be laid to rest. Those who give this little "sleeper" a chance are not likely to be disappointed.

It is a touching movie about characters with cultural differences which are instrumental in the resolution of unspoken injustices. The scenery of Ireland is breathtaking and the pace of the film is soothing. Pierce Brosnan is to be commended for bringing out the nature of his people and how their sentiments merge with the beauty of his native land.

I thought this movie was a nice surprise. I stumbled across it quite by accident while channel surfing on day. It deals with a wide range of human issues (love, cultural taboos, race, generation gap) in a very matter of fact fashion and worked toward resolution of the primary conflicts in believable strides. I feel it reflects well upon the Irish culture and the performers taking part. I enjoyed it well enough to desire to add it to my collection of DVD's. I would put it on a par with The Van, An Everlasting Piece, Rat, and The Snapper (to name a few). It isn't deserving of academy award consideration but certainly worth the time to view it.

This is a neat little story that gives a new twist to the returning Irish diaspora. Although it an entertaining and somewhat lightweight yarn, it does ask a few questions of the main characters and their attitudes to love and hate. A fine performance from Donal McCann as you would expect. And Pierce Brosnan is good not only as the protective father nursing his inner pain but also as the producer of the film. He could easily rest on his 007 laurels but instead he likes to use his box-office clout to help make movies that might not otherwise be made. Yes, the film is easy to watch but no less deserving because of it.

I only viewed this movie because it was a previously-viewed video on sale for $3 at Blockbuster. I didn't expect too much but was very pleasantly surprised how good it was. I almost rated it 8, but settled on 7, mainly because the ending was a bit too "neat", and because some of the dialog was very difficult to understand.

Chad is the 19-yr-old son of an Irish woman who had been "exiled" to America 20 years earlier by her guardian, her older brother. He traveled to visit his uncle Tony upon the death of his mother. Once there, he finds a lot of secrecy and unhappiness, and the rest of the movie is about his attempts to get everything, especially about his mother, out in the open. Along the way he, of course, finds love. Very well cast and acted, this is definitely worth the almost two hours to see.

The pace and method of unfolding the story reminded me of Lone Star, but Lone Star is a significantly better movie overall.